Aug 16, 2012

Cinque Terre: 5 Hills by the Sea

Cinque Terre is a rugged, mountainous area along the coast of the Italian Riviera. It's known as "The Five Hills" and is composed of 5 different colorful villages that overlook the Ligurian Sea: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The villages are connected by a walking path called the "Sentiero Azzurro" (which means light blue trail) since there are very few roads that are accessible by car in this area. There is also a local train that runs from village to village because some of the terrain on the walking trail can be pretty treacherous and muddy and is not suitable for every visitor to navigate safely. Our plan was to hit each one of the 5 towns, walking to some and taking the train to the rest, but the rain we encountered had us changing our plans. Happily, though, we were able to hit 3 out of the 5 seaside villages (Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Vernazza), and what we saw (and ate...pesto, OMG!) was nothing short of wonderful!

We found this little Focacceria while walking through Manarola and the smells coming from the door just drew me in. D and I ordered a square of fresh garlic focaccia smeared with a glob of fresh pesto straight made right in Manarola. It. Was. AH-MAZING. I wish I could have taken a box of the focaccia home with me...it was the softest, most fragrant bread I've ever tasted. And the pesto! Oh, the pesto. Iprobably looked like a ravenous two year old with it smeared all over my face as I inhaled it. Thankfully we got to eat more of it for lunch in Vernazza and you know I took a few jars home with me. It was like a requirement seeing as this region of Italy is the home of pesto. Totally worth a trip there just for the green stuff. Divine!

Below is a photo collage on the wall of one of the alley ways in Vernazza showing the devastation that hit them (as well as another one of the 5 towns) last October in the form of a torrential rainstorm and flooding. From the looks of it, the town was utterly inhabitable post-flood. While we were there, signs of life, tourism, and re-building were everywhere!

Well, folks...that's all for Italy! The very next morning we woke up, said goodbye to our Tuscan paradise, and made our way to Bologna to catch our flight back to Germany. The day after that, half of the family left to head back home to Kansas (as we all mourned the ending our fabulous vacation) while my immediate family stayed one extra day with us. Stay tuned for ONE LAST POST (*tear*) from our Big Fat European Family Vacation...a day exploring Wiesbaden! Then, I swear I'll post photos from our trip to Prague, Lake Constance/Switzerland, and Paris. I'm so unbelievably behind. Story of my life.

So after reading this I went to my kitchen and grabbed my jar of pesto and took a chunk off of the loaf of french bread I have, smeared the pesto on the bread, and as I took a bite I closed my eyes and imagined I was in Cinque Terre! These photos are marvelous!

I followed you through the Aloha Friday Hop. Come follow along at my blog ourlittlebig.blogspot.com

Oh wow. I love these photos. My husband and I are planning a Europe trip for next year, and this place is already on the list!

I just started a new link party on my blog that is exclusively for traveling and experiencing different places. If you could hop on over and link this post or any of your other European posts, I would be so grateful! Thanks so much!

This is just amazing, thank you so much for linking-up on my blog today. The only bad thing is that now I feel jealous and wish I could have come with you! Hope to see more of this next week, same time and same place. Thanks again!talesoftheyoungertwin.blogspot.com

Oh Casey! What gorgeous photos of the sea! Oh, and you had me drooling talking about pesto. I think I could about live off of a plain pasta and a really good homemade pesto. Ya feel me?! Hope you are well dear!

I appreciate your feedback, friends! I read every comment and try my hardest to respond to each one, but if your email address isn't attached to your blogger profile, you might find my response in the comment thread instead. As always, thanks for reading!

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